Australia and Its German-Speaking Readers: A Study of How German Publishers Have Imagined Their Readers of Australian Literature: 1

Dust jackets in particular establish the first act of engagement between an author-or more properly, the author's words-and his or her prospective readers: 'Your potential reader will form an impression of your book while looking at the cover-before they even decide to look inside' (Masterson 161). [...]in making a particular book palatable for a prospective readership, publishers2 shape the story with a vision of the reader in mind: first, they advertise the text through its cover illustration and blurb, both of which usually reflect and summarise the content; secondly, in so doing, publishers develop an image of prospective readers. [...]in the case of these early books, the analytical focus rests on either the book covers (provided that they show any form of illustration) or the title pages and internal page design. [...]there are those books advertised with reference to another, more general theme that is, however, linked to Australia-a strategy that I term the 'double marketing strategy', directed toward those readers expected to be primarily interested not in reading Australian literature but rather in reading literature of a particular genre, such as adventure, romance, or thriller novels. 'AustLit' provides 1,823 entries for 'German' books (as of 19 Aug. 2009). [...]depending on the definition of Australian literature, a total of about 800 books might be more realistic. 4 The German translations of the writing of most authors in the 'Australian Classics Library' series have been published as articles/contributions edited by German scholars. 5 These can be observed in books by Thomas Keneally, Tim Winton, Dorothy Porter, Brian Castro, Christopher Koch, Catherine Helen Spence, Gail Jones, Patrick White, Peter Carey, Christina Stead, Frank Moorhouse, Richard Flanagan, Lily Brett, David Foster, Les Murray, Roger McDonald, Kate Grenville, Andrew McGahan and Elizabeth Jolley, among others.